


The Great Hale Roadtrip

by bicroft



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Derek Needs a Hug, Episode: s03e12 Lunar Ellipse, Family Bonding, Friends to Lovers, Gen, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Texting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-10-03
Updated: 2013-10-03
Packaged: 2017-12-28 08:09:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,688
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/989739
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bicroft/pseuds/bicroft
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After leaving Beacon Hills, Derek and Cora go on a road trip, and strike a deal.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. In Which A Deal is Struck, Cora is an Annoying Tourist, Derek Hears Things That Should Not Be Heard, and Does Not Feel Like a Plastic Bag

They've only been driving for a few hours when the song comes on for the first time. Cora squeals a little bit (because, under the tough exterior, she's still a teenage girl) and turns it up, singing along. Derek sighs, and wonders how this became his life; driving down a mostly empty interstate with his younger sister, running away from the only home he's ever really known (New York didn't count because he could never sleep. Derek, for the most part, could sleep well in Beacon Hills (when he wasn't being bombarded with nightmares, which was, admittedly, most of the time.)

Katy Perry starts telling him he's a firework, and that's really just the icing on the cake. "I really don't understand why you like this song so much." he mutters, and Cora smacks him on the arm.

"It's a good song!" she huffs, and continues singing.

Derek ponders whether or not changing the station will get his arm torn off, and decides it isn't worth the risk.

By the time they cross the California state line into Nevada, Katy Perry had told him to let his colors burn three times, The Spice Girls have asked him if he wanted to be their lover twice, and there's been seven parties in the USA. Derek thinks that if he hears another girl-power bubble gum pop song he's going to have to decapitate himself- not that he had anything against the genre, he just really doesn't want to hear anyone asking him what he really really wants ever again ever.

As Britney Spear's _Oops, I Did It Again_ wanes, Cora idly says: "We should go to Vegas." Derek nearly drives the car off of the road.

" _No._ " he says emphatically. _"Absolutely not. No way in hell_ that's happening."

"Oh _come on_ , Derek!" Cora whines. "This is an adventure- family bonding road trip thingy!"

"This is us leaving Beacon Hills to start over, not a vacation." Derek growls. "We aren't going back."

"Oh that is a lie, and you know it." Cora snorts. "You couldn't stay away from there if you wanted to- like it or not, it's your home, and it's sort of become my home, too. This is you trying to get away, but you aren't leaving it behind."

"I'm trying to." Derek admits. "It isn't easy."

"It's never going to be easy," Cora says, and really, a seventeen year-old girl should not sound that wise.

"Look, I get it- you were hurt by that bitch Blake lady, and you lost two of your Betas, and there's probably other stuff I wasn't around to see- but Beacon Hills is still where your roots are; it's where the Hales roots have been for generations. The wolf never forgets home. You're always going to go back, whether you want to or not. So," Cora looks him dead in the eye as she says this. "Let's make a deal."

Derek raises an eyebrow at her. "What kind of deal?"

"Unless we find someplace better for us in one year- and that doesn't just mean "Cora is happy so I will grin and bear it", Derek, because I know you'll end up trying to do that- we go back to Beacon Hills. If Scooter-"

" _Scott_ , Cora, his name is _Scott._ "

"- Whatever, if he needs us, we go back. One year to have an adventure and find ourselves and all that coming-of-age novel crap. Deal?"

Derek is silent for a long time, thinking. He knows, deep down, that Cora's right; Beacon Hills will always be his home, no matter how much he tries to fit in elsewhere. He can't go back, though, not now, he has a lot of things to take care of before that can happen, and this "road trip" that Cora has in mind sounds like exactly what he needs to make those things happen. "Deal." he says, and Cora grins.

"Awesome. Now, first step of recovery is going to Las Vegas."

Derek raises an eyebrow again. "I thought it was admitting you have a problem?"

Cora snorts.

"That's for people who can't go to Vegas. Get off at this exit."  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Las Vegas is loud and bright and the wolf in Derek wants to do nothing more than run away and find a dark corner somewhere, but (somehow) Cora is bouncing and smiling and snapping pictures with her phone like a normal tourist, so Derek grins, and bears it.

"Oh my god, tiny Eiffel Tower!" she squeals, and starts running through the crowds, and Derek wonders how she can stand all of the people. It's not that he's claustrophobic or anything (really, it's the exact opposite; Derek, for some indiscernible reason actually likes small spaces), but, crowds- especially large ones like this- make him feel like he can't breath. _Ochlophobia,_ a Lydia-sounding voice in the back of his head says, because Derek has Googled it, he knows these things. That's another thing that Derek hates- not knowing things. Knowledge is power, knowledge can keep the people he loves alive. That's one of the reasons he left, even with Kali dead- he needed to learn; to find out things that could help his pack (even though they aren't much of a pack anymore. Erica and Boyd are dead, Isaac is more Scott's Beta than he ever was his, and Stiles... Stiles is... Derek should not be thinking about Stiles because it hurts his brain a little, not to mention his heart.)

Sighing, he mutters "excuse me" as he pushes through the crowd to find Cora gaping at the miniature Eiffel Tower. "You're so _weird._ " he groans, and grabs her by the shoulder. "Let's go find a hotel."

"Derek!" she whines, still snapping photos even as he drags her away. "You're such a killjoy! Live a little- la Vida Loca, Der!"

"My life is not a Ricky Martin song." Derek huffs. "I'm tired, and I hate people, and I have been driving for hours, and I want to sleep, Cora. In a _bed._ A comfortable bed, preferably, and I want to do it now."

"You're such an old man." snorts Cora, finally shaking him off an pocketing her phone. "You can't even stay up past ten thirty, can you?"

"No, I can't." says Derek, because there's really no use in denying it. He liked sleeping, lycanthropic tendencies aside. "So, let's not make me."

Cora makes a disgusted noise. "You _suck._ "

"I know." Derek keeps walking. "But, I'm also your ride."

They ended up in a small motel just out of town in a (failed) attempt to get away from the crowd, not even bothering to properly unpack once they got their room- Derek flopped unceremoniously onto the bed, and Cora picked up the remote. "Don't even think about it." Derek growled, and Cora huffs.

"Such a _killjoy._ "

"Incredibly tired. Go to sleep."

"What if I don't want to?"

"Do it anyway."

"No."

"Cora for Chrit's sake you are seventeen, go the hell to sleep."

"Make m-mmph!" Derek tosses his pillow at her, and it hits her in the face. "Rude!"

" _Sleep_." he repeats, and she gives another huff before kicking her shoes off and flopping onto the other bed.

Everything is fine for another twenty minutes, and Derek's brain is finally calming down enough he thinks he may be able to get a good night's sleep when the scuttling starts. It's in the air vents above the room, and Derek blinks out of his half-sleeping stupor. "Cora," he hisses. "Cora, do you hear that?"

Cora was sitting up, too, head cocked and ear pointed to the ceiling. "It's coming from up there. What is it?"

Derek listens a bit more. The sound is that of small legs on metal, a sound he's familiar with from his time in New York. He shoot out of bed. "Not staying here, Get up, we will find somewhere else."

" _Why?_ " Cora asks, already getting up.

"Because I refuse to spend a night somewhere I can literally hear the roaches, Cora, now let's go." Bugs and Derek tend not to get on well.

Cora is out the door without another word.

They go through another three motels before they decide to just keep on driving. (One had more roaches, the other rats, and the last moaning neighbors Derek didn't want to think about (he'd clamped his hands over Cora's ear as soon as he'd heard those.) They make it to Utah by sunrise, Cora sleeping with her head pillowed by the window, and Derek trying not to nod off at the wheel.

When Katy Perry once again asks him if he feels like a plastic bag, Derek knows for sure that this is going to be a long year.


	2. In Which Stiles Is Pissed and Derek Fails At Emotions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Boys and their emotions and texting.

The texts are almost constant from the day after Derek leaves, and he really feels like he should have expected them. Stiles is the kind of person that won't leave well enough alone, and Derek knew he'd probably take personal offence to his not sticking around long enough to say goodbye.

His phone is going crazy in his back pocket, vibrating every five seconds, and Cora just stifles a giggle when Derek gives a growl of frustration and wriggles it out of his pocket, tossing it in the backseat. "You going to get that?" she asks innocently, and Derek glares at her from the corner of his eye.

"No." he says.

"You should." says Cora, almost scolding. "Ignoring him isn't going to help when you get back."

"I'm driving." Derek growls. "And we don't know if we'r going back yet, remember?"

Cora snorts and raises her eyebrow in a way that says: "You Know I Know You Know That's Just An Excuse Because You Have Feelings But Don't Know How To Handle Them."

"I'll read them at the rest stop." Derek sighs, and Cora settles back into her seat looking a little smug.

When they get to the Wyoming rest stop, Derek snatches his phone from the back seat when Cora gets out to go through the bathroom, and starts scrolling thorough the mesages. There's one from Scott telling him that Stiles is pissed, and Isaac said "good luck, wherever the hell you are.", so that must be a good thing, but the ones that really matter to him are the ones from Stiles- and there are a lot. 

**I cannot believe you left without saying goodbye you asshat. Seriously, would that have been so much to ask?**

**Why did you even leave- Kali was dead, Jennifer was dead, what was the threat?**

**Okay, that was a little cruel. I get it, sort of. Bad memories, too much shit here. You wanted to start over, and I guess that's okay. Doesn't mean I'm still not pissed.**

**Like, really? It didn't even have to be in-person; a text that said "hey, annoying kid! you saved my life a few times, I saved yours a few times, I pushed you against a few walls, we bonded in eight feet of water, those were all good times! have a great life!" or some Sourwolfian equivalent. I like to think that, even if we weren't best buds, we were at least friends in some capacity. Friends don't leave without saying goodbye.**

**Are you ignoring me? I feel like you're ignoring me.**

**You are so ignoring me.**

**You're a dick, Derek Hale. Seriously, text me back.**

**Please don't tell me you died less than twenty four hours after getting out of danger. That would be horrible.**

**If you're dead, at least haunt me for awhile so I can know what happened.**

**Send word from the Great Beyond, man. Is there a shining light?**

**Seriously. If you don't text me back, I'm getting Danny to track you down.**

**Danny is refusing to track you down because "stalking your cousin is weird.", so I'm doing it myself.**

**This would require a lot less effort if you would just reply.**

**Colarado. Wow. You're already three states away. You really wanted to get out of here, didn't you?**

**Is it that bad here?**

**Okay, dumb question. Dead family, dead pack, crazy exes; don't imagine you have all those things anywhere else.**

**... That was mean. Sorry.**

**Have you been driving all night or something?**

**You probably have. You probably fell asleep and you and Cora fell off a cliff somewhere because that is the kind of luck you have.**

**Don't be dead.**

**Just don't die, period. I like you alive.**

**Earth to Derek? When you wake up, text me back.**

**Are you awake yet?**

**Are you awake yet?**

**You would totally kill me if you weren't four states away right now.**

**Derek.**

**Derek.**

**Derek, seriously, you're moving, you have to be awake.**

**Derek, I feel like a creeper, here. Confirmation of life will save the Stiles a lot of guilt later.**

**Just say you're alive, goddamn it, and this isn't just Cora or some other being that had pillaged your phone. It isn't that much to ask.**

Derek sighs at the last few, but he can't help but smile a little as he taps out a reply.

**_You seriously think that I can't keep myself alive for twenty-four hours? I'm a grown man, Stiles._ **

Stiles' reply is instant.

**You're a grown man-child, you ass! You couldn't have said something sooner! What the hell!**

**_I was driving. Car accidents_ can _kill me, Stiles; werewolf doesn't equal invincible._**

**You don't get to be sarcastic about this.**

**_I think I do._ **

**I didn't sleep last night because I kept thinking "oh my god what if Derek's lying dead in a ditch somewhere?"**

**_Stiles, last night you were probably so tired you passed out as soon as your head hit the pillow._ **

**You don't know that!**

**_I know you._ **

**Whatever.**

**_How is everything?_ **

**It's been one day and you're already playing "over protective empty nested mother?"**

**_Says the person who is literally tracking my cell phone right now._ **

**Not right now!**

**_Is the tab still open on your computer somewhere?_ **

**... Whatever.**

**_My point. Now, answer the question._ **

**Everything is fine-ish. There's fallout to deal with, and I spent most of last night flipping between the police station and the hospital, but I'm fine now and back at school because it would look suspicious to Agent Asshole if I wasn't.**

**_Stiles, don't text me during class._ **

**I'm in study hall; there's nothing to do but text you. And, I wouldn't be able to focus if I was in class now, anyway.**

**_Doesn't mean you shouldn't try._ **

**Thanks, dad. I'll keep that in mind.**

**_... Who's Agent Asshole?_ **

**Scott's dad; he's an FBI agent and he's an epic douche.**

**_Oh._ **

**Yeah. He's looming around and it's really frigging weird and creepy seeing him around every corner. He'd trying to weasel his way back onto Scott's good side, too, and that is going about as well as the Challenger launch.**

**_Which is to say horribly?_ **

**On the nose, Derbear.**

**_Please never call me that._ **

**Whatever you say, Derbear.**

**_I hate you._ **

**Love you, too. Have to get back to class, though, so I'll talk to you later?**

Derek faltered. He was supposed to be letting go, moving on, and talking to Stiles was not doing either one of those things. But, still, he felt like he sort of... owed Stiles this; to know that he was okay and out there. (This had nothing to do with a stupid school boy crush. Derek was a grown man; he didn't get crushes, especially not of awkward(ly adorable) highschoolers.) 

****_Okay._**** he quickly sends, and puts his phone back in his pocket. He hears a snort behind him and whirls around to see Cora standing over his shoulder. He frowns at her. "Reading over people's shoulder is rude." 

"You two are sickeningly adorable." Cora says in reply. "Seriously, you should have just kissed him when you had him pushed up against the wall one of those times." 

"Shut up." Derek muttered, turning the car back on, and ignoring the blush spreading across his face. Cora smirked knowingly, and started fiddling with the radio again. 

"You just gotta igni~te the li~ght and let~ it shi~ne!" 

"GODAMNIT NOT AGAIN!" 

**Author's Note:**

> This piece of crap writer loves hearing what you have to say about her piece of crap stories.


End file.
